The Best Moments
by Kaoko Arai
Summary: Invitation party… unbelievable characters are all invited! What would they say when they will see each other for one of the first time? Romance developing… between who? Read and find out yourself!


Chapter 1: The Invitation

**Author's Note:** Hello everyone! Hehe… some lousy thief stealing internet wires in town. We ended up without internet. Without any connections, I decided I would write a Fan-Fic continuing the storyline of 'After the Battle'… and here!

I wrote this the best as I could. It may not be perfect but it's worth reading ;) ~ My English may not be that good, so you will naturally find some mistakes, grammatical errors and some others… but at least its understanding. I changed my writing style a bit… it got more details, more action, more talking, and the chapter is quite long. Lot of characters would be involved (see 'Characters' below)… I tried to make them in character as hard as possible!

If you hadn't read my Fan-Fic 'After the Battle', I suggest you read that one first before this. So you'll have more details about what happened. There'd be a romance about Shiho's love life. I'll try to make it romantic and dramatic as much as possible. Just read and find out yourself who'd she will end up with~ don't expect it to be with Shinichi!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Detective Conan, neither it's characters… only the plot here is mine ^_^

**Characters:** Shinichi Kudo, Saguru Hakuba, Kaito Kuroba, Heiji Hattori, Shiho Miyano, Yukiko Kudo, Ran Mouri, Kazuha Toyama, Aoko Nakamouri, Akako Koizumi, Hiroshi Agasa, Shizuka Hattori, Tomoyaki Araide, Shuuichi Akai, etc.

**Genre:** Drama, Romance, General, Action, Humor (not really), Thrill, Hurt/Comfort, etc.

**Summary:** Invitation party… unbelievable characters are all invited! What would they say when they will see each other for one of the first time? Romance developing… between who? Read and find out yourself!

**~oOo~**

**England – London**

**Hakba's residence**

**March, Friday 19****th**** - 07:10 AM**

"Saguru-kun! If you don't hurry, you'll be missing the flight…!" called Miss White from downstairs. Anne White is a housekeeper of the Hakuba's household; she waited patiently for Saguru 8 minutes ago.

"Yes, I'm coming," Yelled back Saguru Hakuba from upstairs. He was fixing up his suit. Saguru was getting ready for his flight to Japan. He had some important matter to attend there, and he will be away from England for some time.

As he finished fixing his suit, Saguru looked around the room for the last time, to see if he would miss or forget anything. _Okay, all done, _he thought. He picked up his little suitcase and ran down the stairs.

"What took you so long?" remarked the house keeper impatiently.

"Ah, sorry, Anne… my brown suit was a bit dirty and got one of the buttons missing. So I had to change it with this black suit. I think it's a lot better than the brown one-"

"Just that for 10 minutes? Anyway, the car is waiting; if you don't hurry you might miss the flight to Japan."

"The time I took was only 00:07:55 seconds…" corrected Saguru grinning, "and besides, there's still time before the flight. There's no need to rush."

"There might be a traffic on the way, and-"

"You worry too much," said Saguru, "anyway, I'll be missing you Anne."

"Me too, young master… I'll miss you greatly." She said. Tears ran down her cheeks. She had feelings for Saguru, as he always treated her kindly and politely. Even though she knew that he was only going for awhile, she couldn't help but feel sad about it. She then embraced him.

"Got to go!" said Saguru letting go of her, and hurriedly walked toward the main door. He went through the yard and then outside the gate.

"Take care!" yelled Miss White from beside the door. She wiped her tears with the handkerchief.

"Yes, you too," yelled back Saguru, from inside the car, through the open window. The car then begins to move and slowly drove of to the distance.

**~oOo~**

**Japan – Tokyo**

**Beika, District 2 – Kudo's residence**

**March, Sunday 21****st**** – 06:46 PM**

**(A/N: Just to let you know in case you didn't read the Fan-Fiction before this [After the Battle]).** There was a battle between the organization and the FBI including Shinichi Kudo.

It was a tough battle… cornered by Gin, Shinichi had no means of escape. Shiho Miyano (aka Ai Haibara) came for his aid and was shot in his place. Injured badly, Shiho was sent to the hospital. After surviving from the terrible incident, she was adopted by the Kudo family… and she now lives with them.

**~oOo~**

"I'm home!" greeted Shinichi as he entered the house. He had just returned from MPD (Metropolitan Police Department). He had run into a case _again_, and ended up solving it as usual. He found his mother at the library. She was sweeping off the dust from the books and shelves.

The woman noticed her son popping in the room, "Welcome home, Shin-chan." Yukiko welcomed her son warmly.

"Welcome Kaa-san." He replied politely. He looked around, but no one except his mother was there, "Where's Shiho?"

"Ah, she went to Professor's house to help him out with the house. His house had just been fixed and she's there to help him out from the mess the workers had done. Why do you want her for?"

"Ah, no." he said, "School is starting next week; I wanted to know if she would like to register or not."

"Oh yes. School would start in April the 1st. Why, it's still more than a week ahead. There's no need to rush, is there?"

"Mmm… yes… you got the point…"

"If you want your dinner, I will prepare it after half an hour." Yukiko said taking the ladder to the next bookshelf. "And Shiho-chan said she will have dinner at Agasa's place."

"Oh, really?" said Shinichi a bit surprised, "and where's Tou-san?"

"He said he had some business with his old acquaintance," Yukiko answered, "He took the train to Kyoto this evening. He said he won't be back for awhile."

"Ah, I remembered!" Yukiko recalled, she almost fall of the ladder she was on.

"What is it?" Shinichi raised a brow.

"I got an invitation party. And it's really fabulous you see-! It said I can bring some acquaintance of mine… and-"

"Pass~!" Said Shinichi plainly, "I'd rather stay at home. You can take Shiho or maybe Professor Agasa with you. But I'm not going… "

"Oh come on~~!" insisted Yukiko. "There'd be lots of lavish meals, Magic performance… some of famous actors and actresses through out Japan would b present… other famous people too, as Minami Takayama, Mai Kuraki, Miho Komatsu…! And the most amazing of all, a BALL! There'd be a ball like one in the Los Angles. Well, not quite as romantic as that one though… well Shin-chan, doesn't it sound interesting?"

Shinichi wasn't interested at all; he would rather stay at home reading books or watch detective dramas. But seeing his mother's puppy-eyes he couldn't smoothly refuse, "FINE then…!" Shinichi finally said with ignorant eyes.

"YAY!" yelled Yukiko cheerfully. "Since you accept I think I'll call Ran too…"

"You better not," said Shinichi, "she caught fever and is staying on bed. Although her temperature is very high."

"Eh, really?"

"Yes, I just visited her awhile ago; I stopped by on my way home. And she was looking so pale, her forehead looks like a burning pot. Eri-obaa-san is also there, taking care of her."

"That's too bad then," Said Yukiko sympathetically. She was planning something, but to hear Ran was ill, she would have to let it go.

"Did you tell Shiho and Agasa about the party?"

"Umm… not yet…" said his mother humming while she waved the brush at the books, "while you are here now Shin-chan. Can you help me with the cleaning for a bit?"

"O-okay… sure…" muttered Shinichi.

**~oOo~**

**Japan – Tokyo**

**Kuroba's residence**

**March, Sunday 21****st**** – 07:01 PM**

DING… DONG…

Aoko Nakamouri stood excitedly beside the door waiting for someone to open it. She brought something amazing to show it to Kaito and his mother! _I'm sure they would be delighted_, she thought.

DING… DONG…

No answer… There's a light coming from Kaito's room window. But why isn't he answering?

DING… DONG… DING… DONG…

She rang the bell again, but with no avail…

DING… DONG… DING DONG… DING DONG DING DONG DING… DONG!

She was ready to smash the bell as she heard someone approaching her from behind.

"Ara, Aoko-chan?" said a familiar woman voice. She turned around as to see Kaito's mother, Chikage Kuroba with some shopping bags in her hands.

"Kaito's mother…!" exclaimed Aoko, "sorry, I didn't know that you weren't at home."

"But Kaito should be," said Chikage, "why he isn't answering?" she wondered.

Chikage took the key from her purse, opened the main door and entered the house. She offered Aoko to come in, as whom then apologized for the trouble.

"Kaito!" called his mother from downstairs. She called him three times. But no answer… only some strange noises was heard.

"He is probably testing his new magic tricks," said Chikage crossly, "it gets on my nerves when he does this…!"

"Just leave that lousy jerk alone," said Aoko angrily, she was annoyed of how many times she had to ring the bell while waiting outside in the dark, cold, and freezing to death.

"So what do you want with Kaito?" asked Chikage kindly, "I can deliver him your message when I see him."

"Ah thank you," said Aoko thankfully, "but I don't really need that magic nerd to tag along with us…" she said it out loud, enough for someone upstairs to hear.

"Eh?"

"You see," began Aoko, "my father just got this marvellous invitation party. It said we can at least bring 4 of our acquaintance… there'd be lot of delicious meals, MAGIC performance… anyway; the best thing of all… there'd be a BALL! Imagine? A ball! Oh my god, I've always have dreamed about this! My father didn't want to go; he said he is so busy so he couldn't come. So, Chikage-san… I would like you to come to the party with me. Would you like to come?"

"Me?" said Chikage twinkling, "of course! I would love too~!"

Aoko smiled as to see Chikage delighted face, "I invited two of my friends from school, Keiko and Akako. Akako accepted but Keiko couldn't come… and the party would be held the day after tomorrow, on Tuesday—"

"What's this all about?" asked a cheeky voice from nowhere. Chikage and Aoko turned around as to see Kaito just appeared behind them, grinning broadly. He took an invitation card from somewhere in his body and said, "Ho~ an invitation party? You came all this way here just for this?"

Aoko was surprised to see the invitation card in Kaito's hand. _Kaito and his magic again_! She thought. "Give it back!" Aoko declared.

"Ah, not interested~" he hand the card back to Aoko.

"Who said I was going to invite you anyway?" said Aoko annoyed.

"My guess…" he said grinning.

Then Chikage thought for a second, _invitation… Aoko… a ball… Kaito… of course!_

"My, my… do you really don't want to go, my dear Kaito?" said Chikage to her son with a sly smile.

"No, not interested…" Kaito said briefly.

"But I'll be going to the party… I wonder who will cook your dinner."

"Mmm… Ah… eh…?"

"I just bought some fish, squids, crabs, crown, and some shrimps… I was intending to enjoy it for myself when you are not around… but I guess I'll let you have them since I'll be enjoying myself at the party… before I go, I'll write you a note of how to cook the dish… and—"

"Eh- what? fish…! Ah, AAAAAHHHHH~~~~~~~~!"

**~oOo~**

**Japan – Osaka**

**Hattori's residence **

**March, Sunday 21****st**** – 07:44 PM**

"An invitation party?" repeated Heiji.

Heiji Hattori was eating dinner with his family when his mother, Shizuka Hattori mentioned about some party being held up on Tuesday.

"Yes," said Shizuka, "it'd be held in Tokyo, Yokohama on Tuesday. Are you going?"

Going to Tokyo he might get the chance to meet up with Kudo, and he need to discuss something very important with him in private. As for the party… he would like to scoff in some delicious meals…

"Okay, I'll go," he finally decided, he slurped a spoonful of soup.

"Ah, that's good! So I, Kazuha-chan, and you'll be going…" said his mother pleased.

"Eh, what—" Heji spew out the soup from his mouth at the mentioning of Kazuha.

"Yes," said his mother, annoyed at Heiji's outburst, "you can dance with her you know…"

"Wha—what!" Heji blushed at the thought.

"Ha-ha-ha!" laughed Shizuka, "you have the same expression when I mentioned her the exact same thing." She couldn't help to hide her laugh, ended up snorting.

"Hey Baa-san, stop playing around," said Heiji irritated.

"Well, why not?" said his mother merrily, "you would look lovely with Kazuha on the ball. And I can—"

"You want to tape it and add it to your stupid collections, right?" presumed Heiji with irritable looking face.

"Ah, you got that right!" exclaimed his mother cheerfully.

"Can't you for once—"

"CAN WE AT LEAST HAVE SOME QUITE DINNER!" shouted Heji's father, Henzo Hattori.

Heiji and Shizuka were so startled that Heiji dropped his bowl of soup. Henzo had been having a lot of headaches since his return form headquarters. And now the talk about party really digs him in.

"S-scary…!" murmured Heiji to himself.

**~oOo~**

**Japan – Tokyo**

**Beika, District 2 – Kudo's residence**

**07:49 PM**

"What about Shiho?" asked Shinichi, gulping a forkful of spaghetti.

He was having a dinner alone with his mother that night in the luxurious dining room.

"Well, you see," began Yukiko uneasily, "she's a good girl, and she is very helpful and well-mannered…"

"And?"

"But somehow… there's something that makes me worry…"

"Why is that?" said Shinichi confused. He hardly sees Yukiko with a troubled face before. In fact, it was so unusual!

"I'm not really sure," she said, "Whenever I see her, she has some look in her face that makes me worry… it's like she's not happy…"

"She's always like that," said Shinichi, slurping the spaghetti, "Like wearing a mask to hide her true self."

"Ah, could only be me imaginations," she said at last, feeling so foolish at the sudden, "are you going to Professor's house later?"

"I guess so…" said Shinichi as he wasn't really sure, "maybe I'll help him a bit with the house…"

"So, could you tell them about the party?"

"That's your job," said Shinichi munching his meal.

"I'm afraid Shiho-chan would refuse, and it'd be hard for me to convince her," she said, "last time when I wanted to take her to the mall to buy her some clothes… it was so hard as to persuade her to go with me! …It's like she is afraid of going out…"

"You got the point," sighed Shinichi, "I think she is afraid of the Men in Black who is still on the run."

"Mmm… it's not good to be stuck in the house all the time," said Yukiko, "so I want you to convince her to go to the party… do anything for her till she accepts."

"Fine…" Shinichi didn't want to argue any further.

Yukiko sighed, and then smiled.

**~oOo~**

**Agasa's house**

**08:16 PM**

"Hakase, where should I put this?" Shiho was carrying a box full of Agasa's junk-inventions.

"Just put it in the basement…!" the professor yelled from the next room.

DING DONG… Someone rang the bell.

"Ai-kun, can you please open the door?"

"Hai~! She replied lazily. Walking up to the door, Shiho gently unlocked the chain, and turned up the knob.

A teenage boy stood up beside the door, he grinned at her.

"Ah, it's you…" said Shiho plainly.

"May I come in?" Shinichi asked politely.

"Well, of course," she said, letting him inside the house.

"Would you like something to drink?" she offered.

"N-no, thank you… by the way, where's Hakase?"

"He is in the basement."

"What's with you?" asked Shinichi suspiciously, "you looked upset."

"No, I'm fine," she said simply, "just tired of all the housework and stuff."

"Hee~"

The house didn't look messy as Shinichi would have expected. It looked clean and it smells of a nice odour.

"So, what business do you have here?" Shiho asked curiously.

"Err… actually…" began Shinichi uneasily. How would he tell her… the task wasn't easy as he predicted. If she refused, how should he convince her… umm… think, think, THINK!

"Shinichi-kun!" interrupted Agasa.

"Yo, Hakase!" said Shinichi trying to run away from Shiho's glare. "May I help you with the cleaning?"

"I appreciated your concern," said Agasa smiling, "but don't mind, because there's nothing for you to do anyway… we were just about to finish…"

"Eeeh~"

"Don't tell me you came all this way just for that?" said Shiho sarcastically.

"Hehe… well actually…" stuttered Shinichi, "my mother just got this amazing party invitation letter…" he faked that, "she said you guys could come if you want… it said there'd be delicious meals, magic performance, and there'd be a luxurious ball she said…. She asked me to ask you if you would like to come. The party will be held on Tuesday evening."

As Agasa heard the word 'delicious meal', he was delighted. "Really, Shinichi-kun!"

"Yes, she said she would love you guys to attend. You are very welcome."

"Of course, I'll go…! If you don't mind…!" said Agasa eagerly. He thought of the delicious meal the party would serve. After all the hard work he did since morning… he deserve some good food to fill his big stomach…

"Pass~" said a stubborn voice coming out from Shiho's mouth.

Shinichi _knew_ she would say that. _Why does she always have to be so difficult?_ He thought.

"Come on~" he said, "Being always stuck up in the house, it's so unlike you."

"Say what you want," said Shiho rudely, "I'm not interested, and I'm not going."

"Why is that you don't want to go?"

"Because I don't want to."

"Are you afraid being out?"

"T-that's not it…"

"Are you afraid that the bad guys who are on the run will see your face…? Are you afraid they might target you again? Is that it—"

"Why are you so convincing?" she said annoyed and irritated. Her face looked like she could hit Shinichi at anytime. "I don't want to go out because I feel it's -dangerous… couldn't you understand? You shouldn't be carefree either…! Some of them are still out there… they would want their revenge… they might even be targeting us right now…! They might ambush us at anytime! Not just us… but everyone around us too would be in danger…!"

Shiho's heart beat fast… she was really furious. She lost her cool. Why did she flare up like that? She was worried, but she shouldn't have expressed it that way…

Shinichi was nervous too, but still kept his cool. Also, why is _he_ doing this? It's not like he cares anyway… maybe he cares a little… but to extent as to quarrel… that's really not his style.

"Alright…" he said, sounding calm, "I'm sorry that I talked like that all of the sudden… but Shiho, believe me… trapping yourself in fear inside the house would only make you suffer even more. Why not just act like a regular teenage girl would do? Hanging out with family and friends, going on vocation, making new friends… I understand you being cautious, but to extent to lock yourself up… that's so unlike you. And about the syndicate, the FBI already transferred _them_ to the U.S prison. Imagine… on the other side of the world. And it's the most secure prison in America. The most dangerous criminals are held there… criminals that are waiting for their execution, or having a life imprisonment…" he paused for a moment, "as for the guys who are on the run… they wouldn't dare to come near us. We are connected to police, aren't we? So targeting us would be the last thing they would want to do."

It was only a theory, he wasn't sure himself, but he only said it to comfort her.

Shiho stared blankly at the floor… Shinichi placed his hand on her shoulder. She still didn't look at him. She didn't know what to say or _how_ to face him.

He took a hold of her chin and turned up her face to meet his. But her eyes were looking the other way.

He went on, "And believe me…" he said with a calm, gentle voice, "If anything went wrong… I'll definitely think for something… I will never let anything harm you… I will protect you… whatever it costs."

She looked at him; their eyes met. Shinichi had a smile on his face. It was gentle, calm and it was… a kind one. It looked so promising.

Shiho blushed. Shinichi let go of her chin.

"I- I apologize too," she said uneasily, "I lost my temper back then… I- I'm sorry… I didn't mean to yell at you… like that…"

"Don't be," he said. "I'm the one at fault. I shouldn't have interfered if you would like to go or not in the first place. You should decide for yourself. I'm not going to force you. But I really think going out once in awhile will help you refresh your mood."

Shiho didn't say anything.

Shinichi turned to Agasa who stood there silently. He had been watching all the time. His heart was pounding as he watched the two quarrels. As an old man he is, he likes being at peace. He sighed a sigh of relief when it was over. And he was thankful to Shinichi for what he'd had done to Shiho. She would rest her mind at ease for now.

"My mom said to give you this," said Shinichi to Agasa, he handed him a bag containing something; "you had lost it somewhere didn't you?"

"Ahhh~~~" exclaimed Agasa more relieved then ever as he saw the thing inside, "I've been searching for it all over the house! How did you find it?"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," he said grinning, waving his index finger, "it's elementary, Hakase-kun!"

With that he walked towards the door intending to leave, "Okay, I'm done here. If you need any help, just call me from next door."

"Sure, and thank you Shinichi-kun,"

"No… don't mention it," he said simply, he looked at Shiho who then turned away nervously. "Good night," he said, almost in a whisper.

"Wait—!" she said as Shinichi was about to step outside. He turned around.

"I… I will go…" she stammered, "to the… party…"

Shinichi smiled, "I'm happy to hear it," he said. "See you tomorrow!"

With that, he closed the door and disappeared to his house.

**~oOo~**

**Kudo's House**

**08:37 PM**

"How did it go?" asked Yukiko as her son went in the house.

"You better owe me for this," Shinichi said, "Yeah… they accepted. I had some trouble with Shiho though."

"Thank you," she said gratefully.

"N-no, don't mention it," he said hastily.

Shinichi was tired. It had really been such a day! He wanted to read some new novel he'd bought, and then go to bed.

**~oOo~**

**Akako's Haunted Mansion**

**March, Sunday 21****st**** – 11:12 PM**

It was cold dark and freezing outside. Dead leaves falling from its lifeless trees. It was so quite, aside from the blowing wind.

As Akako raised herself from her seat, she stood at the mirror in front her.

Saying some weird sayings, she raised her arms and shouted out loud, "Mirror, mirror on the wall, whose the most beautiful of them all!"

"_You Miss Akako, you are the most beautiful woman of all_" said the mirror (lying), "_all the men on the planet should be your slave_."

"Well then," she said smirking, "Mirror, mirror on the wall, with whom shall I dance with at the ball!"

"_You will dance with a boy…_" said the mirror plainly.

She threw a crystal ball at the mirror, "Of course I will dance with a boy, you stupid mirror, but who?"

"_That I can't tell you,_" it said, "_but you will meet him for the first time… he is smart, good looking… and quite the gentleman… you'll fall with him the first sight… he has spectacles… handsome face… good to be your future husband… I think you will look good together… he may cure your heart of evilness…_"

Akako took a chair and threw it with a full force at the mirror, breaking it into small, sharp pieces.

"Useless thing," she hissed at the scattering pieces.

**END OF CHAPTER ONE!**

**(N/A): **Phew, at last! I finished it in a week! I didn't take all my time writing this though… I find some free times and I add to the story little by little. Sorry if the plot wasn't very good~ and please review if you have time, it means a lot to me! If you find any mistakes please inform me, so I'll correct them and learn from it… I don't mind criticism, but just don't use harsh words ;)

I'll try to post Chapter 2 in a short period of time. Don't expect it to be too soon though. Because I'm not a free person as it seems

**PS.** About the title, I didn't really know what to put… so I just figured it out that 'The Best Moments' would be good… but if you know any good titles for the story I would be delighted to see it. If I think it's great I'll change to it.

_And… I wonder if I should make Shinichi die in this Fan-Fic…_


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